The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mackenzie
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1RidgewayGirl
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mackenzie is, well, kind of quirky. Did you like it? Love it? Find it forgettable?
2RidgewayGirl
Elizabeth McKenzie's novel was delightful. Witty, self-assured and charming; I enjoyed this book enormously. Set in Palo Alto, The Portable Veblen concerns Veblen, a free spirit living in an old cottage at the end of a cul de sac. Working a pink collar job at the university, she meets Paul, an up-and-coming medical researcher. So up-and-coming that he is promptly poached by a large pharmaceutical firm that wants to market his invention - a kit that allows for brain injuries to be treated by Army medics at the scene of the injury. Paul and Veblen fall in love, but they have very different visions of their future. Paul is being wooed by a much more affluent lifestyle than he's ever experienced, and Veblen loves her tiny cottage and simple lifestyle.
The story of Veblen and Paul is not so simple as one wanting status that the other finds abhorrent. Both have families that they are still having trouble dealing with. Veblen's mother is a controlling hypochondriac, who nonetheless dearly loves Veblen, and her father is in a mental institution. Paul was raised by hippies who grew pot and made furniture out of found objects. They're both intent on shaping their lives partially in reaction to their upbringing. What's lovely about this book is that McKenzie never goes for the easy answer. All of her characters are understandable, and even likable in their own ways, even when their actions are harmful to others. Also, there is a squirrel.
After a stretch of reading serious books doing inventive things to the story-telling process, it was wonderful to read a more traditionally (mostly) constructed novel. McKenzie has written an excellent book about families, and how they affect us, even in how we choose to be different from them and she's done so in a manner that charmed me.
The story of Veblen and Paul is not so simple as one wanting status that the other finds abhorrent. Both have families that they are still having trouble dealing with. Veblen's mother is a controlling hypochondriac, who nonetheless dearly loves Veblen, and her father is in a mental institution. Paul was raised by hippies who grew pot and made furniture out of found objects. They're both intent on shaping their lives partially in reaction to their upbringing. What's lovely about this book is that McKenzie never goes for the easy answer. All of her characters are understandable, and even likable in their own ways, even when their actions are harmful to others. Also, there is a squirrel.
After a stretch of reading serious books doing inventive things to the story-telling process, it was wonderful to read a more traditionally (mostly) constructed novel. McKenzie has written an excellent book about families, and how they affect us, even in how we choose to be different from them and she's done so in a manner that charmed me.
3raidergirl3
I haven't read it, but your review makes me want to!
